1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for press-bonding a reinforcement tape to a slide fastener with a separable end stop, and an apparatus therefor.
2. Prior Art
In order to facilitate opening and closing of a separable end stop provided at the lower end of a slide fastener, it is customary that a reinforcement tape made of a plastic resin film is bonded to the lower ear portions of the carrier tapes of both fastener stringers adjacent to the lower ends of the rows of the fastener elements to impart improved rigidity. It is also desirable that the reinforcement tape is bonded not only to the space section of the fastener chain, which is void of the fastener elements, but also with the reinforcement tape extending to the side portions of the carrier tapes so that distortion of the lower part of the fastener chain can be prevented which otherwise often occurs.
To simplify and facilitate the assembling and finishing of slide fasteners, it is a common practice of the slide fastener manufacturers to first prepare a continuous length slide fastener chain carrying thereon uninterrupted rows of the fastener elements, and then to remove a certain number of the fastener elements in a section at regular intervals to form so-called space sections where the fastener chain is subsequently cut into the individual product length. Therefore it is a convenient way to bond a reinforcement tape onto the space section of the fastener chain before cutting the chain into the product length one by one, and then the fastener chain with the reinforcement tape is cut along a cutting line within the space section.
In the prior art, a continuous process apparatus for press-bonding reinforcement tapes to a continuous length fastener chain is disclosed (see, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. SHO 44-14392) in which a continuous length reinforcement tape and the continuous length fastener chain are transferred in the same direction. The problems with such an arrangement of the apparatus are (1) that exact positioning of the tape relative to the fastener chain is rather difficult with frequent displacement of the reinforcement tape out of the exact positions and (2) that compactness of the apparatus can hardly be obtained. In addition, the reinforcement tape bonded with such an apparatus is necessarily in a rectangular form lying at the lower end of the element rows perpendicularly to the direction of the element rows. With such an arrangement no protection is imparted to several pairs of the elements positioned near the lower end of the element rows which should desirably be protected with a reinforcement tape from deformation due to repeated opening and closing of the fastener chain, having a separable end stop.